Message From The Rabbi

Rabbi Spike Anderson

For seven years now I have the honor of being one of the volunteer Chaplains for the Sandy Springs Police Department.  It is a large department of over 150 officers, with only three being Jews; however, since Sandy Springs has such a high Jewish population (35-40%, or so I’ve been told), it reflects well that the police department has a Chaplain who wears a kippah. My position with SSPD, along with my role as rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, means that occasionally I am asked to meet with the Mayor of Sandy Springs, Rusty Paul. 

My interactions with Mayor Paul have always been positive, but I will never forget the pro-Israel rally at City Springs days after the October 7^th pogrom, where Mayor Paul gave the inaugural address.  Were you there too?  About 5,000 of us were…

He was crystal clear that there was such thing as right and wrong (as opposed to those who insist that morality is relative, and context is king).  He condemned Hamas, expressed his outrage, and expressed heartfelt compassion for the Israelis killed and kidnapped.  I remember thinking, “ok”.  This is what clear leadership looks like.   Straight talk.  No vacillation.  This is ‘who’ we are.”  He also spoke of how the Jews of Sandy Springs could count on him, the city council and the police department to be safe in our homes and schools.  I did not take that for granted then, or now.

Last week, over morning coffee, Rusty Paul shared with me his recent trip to Israel.  He and about a dozen other mayors traveled to the kibbutzim on the Gaza border, met with Israeli leaders and officials, and stood tall at the big Saturday night rally in Tel Aviv.  In front of close to 100,000 Israeli citizens, these mayors received thunderous applause for… being there…for showing support…for speaking up.   Rusty told me that this moment, for him, was hard to explain, other than it was both humbling and incredibly profound for him at an intensely personal level.

My response to him was to thank him.  I said it quietly.  And I meant it.  I thanked him man to man, and also on behalf of the Jewish people.   He responded by saying that we have an incredible Sandy Springs Jewish community (and I agree, we do).  But I added to his statement that “we also have an amazing Sandy Springs gentile community.”  It was clear (to us both) that, at that moment, I was reflecting gratitude for where we live that we all feel. 

These days I take nobody’s support for granted.  Our world is in flux, and we need to be active in our engagement with this ever-changing reality.

My ‘ask’ of you is that you look for ways to insert yourself into building bridges and strengthening relationships.

Nobody is going to do this for us.

We can do this.

B’shalom/In peace,

Rabbi Spike